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The Weird Week in Review

Man Shoots Store Over Crawfish

Larry Wayne Kelly of Ensley, Florida, found he could not buy crawfish from a seafood market on Sunday evening because they were out of stock. He had called the L&T Seafood Market just before closing time at five. Kelly apparently became upset, and continued to call the business many times after they closed. At about 7PM, police were called to investigate shots fired in the neighborhood. After a car chase, they found Kelly with several loaded firearms in his vehicle. They also found eleven bullet holes in the seafood market building. Kelly asserted that he is a “sovereign citizen” and not subject to the law, but he was arrested anyway on 27 felony charges.

Horse Herpes Forces Rodeo Queens to Ride Stick Ponies

An outbreak of equine herpes virus is causing havoc on the rodeo and show horse circuit. Normally, the contestants in the Davis County Sheriff's Mounted Posse Junior Queen Contest in Utah ride horses as they compete, but this year rode stick ponies instead. The competition is a little tougher as the horses will not being doing any of the work. The stick pony competition tests how well the riders know the routine. Although not sexually transmitted, equine herpes is highly contagious among horses, incurable, and can be fatal.

Police Shoot Concrete Alligator

Three policemen in Independence, Missouri spotted an alligator on a lawn. They lined up and got two shots into the alligator before they realized it was made of concrete. Homeowner Rick Sheridan heard the shots from his garage and went around to find the policemen shooting at his lawn ornament. Sheridan plans to patch up the damaged alligator.

Credit Card Found 25 Years Later -Underwater!

John Krayeski of West Palm Beach, Florida, was spear fishing in the waters off Singer Island, specifically at an artificial reef called the Triangle. A responsible diver, he often picks up trash he sees underwater. On this trip, he picked up an old JC Penney credit card. Back on land, he read the name on the card: Jack Jacobs. He knew the name, as Krayeski's construction business had built an addition at Jacob's home. Jacobs' wife told Krayeski that they never had a card from JC Penney, but later Jack Jacobs called and said he'd lost that card 25 years ago, before he was ever married! However, he had no idea how it ended up a mile out at sea.

"I told John I'm going to drop another credit card in the ocean and he has 25 years to find it."

"Make it a gold American Express and I'll find it a lot sooner," Krayeski said.

Bank Robbers Dressed as Nuns

It was a scene modeled after a bank robbery depicted in the movie The Town as two people dressed a nuns robbed the West Englewood branch of TCF bank in Palos Heights, Illinois, Sunday afternoon. They jumped over the counter and forced two employees into the vault where they packed a duffel bag with an undisclosed amount of money. No shots were fired. The two "nuns," later described as a white male and a white female, fled in a silver Chevrolet. The bank was open as usual on Monday. The robbers' disguises were surprising, but even more astonishing is the fact that a bank was open not only on Sunday, but also on a Monday holiday!

Is the Yellow Brick Road in Peekskill?

When L. Frank Baum wrote The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, could the yellow brick road have been inspired by a road in Peekskill, New York? City historian John Curran thinks so, and has done the research. Baum attended Peekskill Military Academy in 1868, when he was 12 years old.

In 2005, a Fulbright scholar and artist persuaded John Testa, who was the mayor of Peekskill at the time, to conduct an authenticity study on the road. Mr. Curran uncovered maps showing that West Street, which leads from the steamboat dock up a hill to the military academy, was indeed made of Dutch pavers, a common yellow-hued brick in the Dutch-settled area.

The maps showed Mr. Baum had to have walked along the road to get to school, Mr. Curran said.

Only a small part of the road is still brick. Curran would like to restore the road, or build a monument of some sort to Oz, but the city does not have the money for such a project.

Stolen 59" TV Transported on Bicycle

Police in South Daytona, Florida, though something looked suspicious when they spotted 23-year-old Steven Long riding a bike with a 59" television wedged between his lap and the handlebars. The rider fled when he saw the cops, and later abandoned both the bike and the TV set. He was arrested in a residential yard after a short chase. Long told police that he had been given the set to settle a debt, and that he ran because "he doesn't like police." Meanwhile, a burglary was reported in which a 59" TV was taken. The victims identified the set, which they had only purchased a week before, but was retrieved broken beyond repair.

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Also on Mental Floss:

DID YOU KNOW? Marlon Brando hated memorizing lines so much that he posted cue cards everywhere to help him get through scenes.
He even asked for lines to be written on an actress's posterior. (That request was denied.)